I'll say first that I am a traditionalist when it comes to country music. I prefer artists that stick to the roots of what makes country music what it is. A good lyric, with a good story that is believable using traditional country sounding instruments.
I'm a big fan of Waylon, Merle, Whitley, Cash, Brooks and Dunn, George Strait, Jamey Johnson, you get the point. I'm also a big fan of pretty much every genre of music.
My playlists range from Hank Sr to Metallica.
What we are seeing with artists these days is a melting pot of influences. So we aren't going to have the next Waylon, or George Strait, but artists that were influenced by them and other infuences that have created their own sound. It's not necessarily country in some cases, but, neither were many other artists from 30-40 years ago when they were introduced to the world.
This has been happening in music since its creation and it will continue. I'm mostly ashamed of what is on the radio these days, but there is alot of good music out there, you just have to find it.
Also, as someone who plays music in Nashville I have to keep up with and be able to play what people want to hear to put $$ in the tip jar. Morgan Wallen, Eric Church, Stapleton and Luke Combs are the in artists that people request so I need 4-5 songs on standby at least to play upon request. (No I ain' t playing Luke Bryan....well maybe for a $100 bill)
I like several of MW's songs and after listening to the album quite a bit since its release, it's a love/hate situation for me. 36 songs, MW has co-writing credits on 13 or 14 of them. He's also got some songwriting monsters writing songs for or with him. (Hardy, Ernest, Miranda Lambert, Josh Thompson, Nicole Galyon, John Pierce, Ashley Gorley, Greg Allman, Jessi Alexander, Hillary Lindsey, Rodney Clawson and others) Look up some of these names and you'll get a better idea of the firepower in his corner.....and getting richer off this album.
anyway...
Really like,:
"Everything I Love" (co-written by Ernest and Greg Allman) Probably the most country song on the album.
"Man Made a Bar" (Larry Fleet was one of the co-writers on this one, big fan of his)
"Devil Don't know"
"I deserve a drink" (this song is fire) Hillary Lindsey and Devin Dawson, look up their songwriting credits, impressive.
"Thought you should Know" (Miranda Lambert was one of the co-writers on this one)
"Cowgirls"
"Dying Man"
These are growing on me:
"Born with a beer in my hand" (Hardy was a co-writer on this one, too)
"Me to me"
"I Wrote the Book" (Hardy was a co-writer on this one)_
"Tennessee Numbers"
"Whiskey Friends"
"Keith Whitley"
"Money on Me"
The rest i either hate pretty much or can definitely do without. If you got this far....cool. If not, that's cool, too.
